Purchase Back Issues

Did you miss an issue of Shimmer? It’s not too late! You can always purchase the electronic edition, and we’ve still got a few copies of the print edition for some issues.

Issue 11: The Clockwork Jungle Book (Autumn 09)

Issue 11

Our collection of twenty fabulous steampunk animal tales. We’ve got an origin story from Jay Lake, and a tale of the end of the world from Sara Genge. Stories set in London, China, Alabama, Castle Frankenstein, and the moon. We’ve got snakes and dinosaurs, elephants and wolves, bees and fish, birds and goats, and yes, even a monkey or two. 172 pages, available in both print and electronic. Shweta Narayan’s story, “The Mechanical Aviary of Emperor Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar,” has been reprinted in Jeff VanderMeer’s Steampunk Reloaded: Volume II.

The Clockwork Jungle Book … does not disappoint. This was a flawless issue Shimmer and a big thick one, too. — SF Revu

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Issue 10: Winter 2009.

Issue 10

To celebrate our tenth issue, we put the whole thing up online: download it for free! This issue features Nir Yaniv’s “A Painter, a Sheep, and a Boa Constrictor,” which was reprinted in Rich Horton’s Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2010. Five stories were selected for Ellen Datlow’s Honorable Mention list in the Year’s Best Horror, including our cover story, Caitlin Paxson’s “The Carnivale of Abandoned Tales.” The others: “Counting Down to the End of the Universe,” by Sara Genge; “The Spoils of Springfield” by Alex Wilson; “What to Do with the Dead,” by Claude Lalumière; and “A Painter, a Sheep, and a Boa Constrictor.” You also don’t want to miss Shweta Narayan’s “One for Sorrow,” and the cover art by the brilliant Carrie Ann Baade.

They are unfailingly well written, which gives hope for the future of the genre. — Tangent Online

Issue #9: Spring 2008. Eleven delicious stories! Our cover story is M. K. Hobson’s “The Hand of the Devil on a String,” which appears on the Best American Fantasy 3 Recommended Reading List. Four stories from this issue were selected as Honorable Mentions in Ellen Datlow’s Year’s Best Horror: “The Hummingbird Heart,” by Angela Slatter; “The Shape of her Sorrow,” by Joy Marchand, “The Hand of the Devil on a String,” and “Chimera and Qi,” by Tinatsu Wallace.

Beneath the glossy cover art by Aunia Kahn, the 2008 Spring issue of Shimmer is filled with illustrated stories loosely based on relationships, and how the power of love or the lack of it influences people’s lives. This issue will satisfy the widely diverse palates of fantasy readers. –The Fix.

Issue #7: The Pirate Issue (Autumn 2007). Guest-edited by John Joseph Adams, this special themed issue contains ten swashbuckling stories, our interview with the creator of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and is illustrated throughout by James Owen. Avast!

John Joseph Adams was invited by the editors at Shimmer to be the editor, and his skills at choosing good stories that have plots, characters, and are under 5000 words shows through. –Grasping for the Wind.

“…Full of magic, love, poetic prose, and again, magic. Not the kind of magic you expect in traditional fantasy stories—spells and bewitchment—but the kind of magic that pulses through the veins of a well drafted collection to enchant the heart. You will remember these stories long after you have tucked the small paperback among your other collectibles.”–Tangent Online

Issue #5: Autumn 2006. Eight stories, including Angela Slatter’s Aurealis-award nominated story “The Angel Wood,” and our interview with John Scalzi. Two stories received an honorable mention in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror: Aliette de Bodard’s “Through the Obsidian Gates” and “A Wizard on the Road,” by Nir Yaniv (trans. Lavie Tidhar).

It was a totally enjoyable experience … Shimmer is one of the best small press magazines out there and you should all be subscribing to it! — SF Revu

Issue #4 – Summer 2006. With a magical cover by Chrissy Ellsworth, Issue Four presents nine stories. We’ve got Amal El-Mohtar’s first fiction publication, Angela Slatter’s “Bluebeard,” (which received an Honorable Mention in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror), and seven other treats.

Shimmer is the type of publication that you’re proud of reading in front of your peers. It is journal-sized, with an attractive, simple front and back cover layout. The interior has a clean, professional design. The font is eye-grabbing and large enough for most eyes to read without hassle…. Shimmer has some of the best dark fantasy and horror to be found in the small press. More people need to be exposed to this magazine. — Tangent Online

I missed the premier issue of Shimmer, but found this second issue a joy to read. It was like opening a box of mixed chocolates. Although I like some of the fillings better than others, all were delicious and I couldn’t stop eating (er…reading) until all were consumed. — Tangent Online.

Issue #1: Autumn 2005. Our debut issue! See how it all began. We kicked things off with nine stories and a book review from John Joseph Adams. “Nobody’s Fool,” by Edward Cox, received an Honorable Mention in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror.

If I had seen Shimmer in a store, I would have snatched it up right away, because I am a book snob, and, to my shame, am too easily seduced by gorgeous cover art. However, had I indeed picked up a copy in a fit of unmitigated passion for its prettiness, I would not have been disappointed; this is an excellent magazine with high editorial standards, a tight, sure vision of what it seeks to accomplish, and a degree of success with that goal that’s decidedly gratifying. — Amal El Mohtar, SFSite.

Badger Army

We've rolled up our sleeves and are ready to #resist. All profits from our badger merchandise in our shop will go to support the SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER. Journals, tees, stickers, totes, and more! SHOP and #RESIST

Shimmer aspires to publish excellent fiction across lines of race, income, nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, geography, and culture, and therefore encourages submissions of diverse stories from diverse authors. This includes, but is not limited to: people of color, LBGTQIA, women, the impoverished, the elderly, the incarcerated, and those with disabilities. We are not interested in acquiring fiction that denigrates or perpetuates stereotypes of the above groups.

We encourage authors of all backgrounds to write stories that include characters and settings as diverse and wondrous as the people and places of the world we live in. Every story sent to us should be well-researched, respectful, and conscientious.

2017: The Collected Stories

All of our 2017 stories in one beautiful book, yours to have in trade paperback or digital!

Shimmer 2016: The Collected Stories

From the depths of the woods to the vast spaces between planets, this year of Shimmer will take you anywhere you want to go. Warm swamps, steaming devil hearts, a house where women craft the children they never had; a haunted orchard, a haunted house, a thousand haunted hearts. More about Shimmer 2016

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